Contents

List of Examples

List of Figures

List of Tables

Title and Copyright Information

Preface

• Audience
• Documentation Accessibility
• Related Documents
• Conventions

What's New in OracleAS Web Cache?

• New Features in 10g Release 2 (10.1.2.0.2)
• New Features in 10g Release 2 (10.1.2.0.0)

Part I Getting Started with OracleAS Web Cache

1 Introduction to OracleAS Web Cache

• What Is the Big Picture for Caching?
• Oracle's Solution to Web Site Performance Issues
• How Reverse Proxy Web Caching Works
• Benefits of Web Caching
• Features of OracleAS Web Cache
• Whole-Page Caching for Static and Dynamic Content Caching
• Cache Invalidation and Expiration
• Performance Assurance
• Virtual Hosting
• Virtual Host Sites
• ESI Provider Sites
• Site Definitions and Site-to-Server Mappings
• How OracleAS Web Cache Locates Application Web Severs or Proxy Servers
• Cache Clustering
• Cache Hierarchies
• Origin Server Surge Protection, Load Balancing, Failover, and Session Binding
• Surge Protection
• Stateless Load Balancing
• Backend Failover
• Session Binding (Stateful Load Balancing)
• Security
• Compression
• Auto-Restart
• Compatibility with Oracle Application Server Components

2 Caching Concepts

• About Cache Population
• About Cache Consistency and Performance Assurance
• Invalidation
• Expiration
• HTTP Cache Validation
• Performance Assurance Heuristics
• How OracleAS Web Cache Can Cache Dynamically Generated Content
• Multiple Versions of the Same Object
• Personalized Attributes
• Controlling How the Cache Serves Personalized Attribute Requests
• Session Information
• Excluding the Value of Embedded URL or POST Body Parameters
• Substituting Session Information in Session-Encoded URLs
• Controlling How Session Requests Are Served by the Cache
• About Edge Side Includes (ESI) for Partial Page Caching
• Page Assembly Components
• Fragmentation with the Inline and Include Tags
• Using Inline for Non-Fetchable Fragmentation
• Using Inline for Fetchable Fragmentation
• Using Include for Fragmentation
• Selecting the Fragmentation Mechanism for Your Application
• Referer Request-Header Field
• Cookie Management for Template Pages and Fragments
• ESI Features
• ESI for Java (JESI)
• Oracle JDeveloper Support for ESI and JESI
• About Request and Response-Header Fields Important for Caching
• Surrogate-Capability Request-Header Field
• Server Response-Header Field
• Surrogate-Control Response-Header Field
• Surrogate-Key Response-Header Field
• How OracleAS Web Cache Processes Requests with a Range Request-Header Field

3 Cache Clustering

• Overview of Cache Clusters
• Benefits of Cache Clusters
• How Cache Clusters Work
• How Cache Content Is Distributed
• Failure Detection and Failover

4 OracleAS Web Cache Security

• About OracleAS Web Cache Security
• OracleAS Web Cache Security Model
• Restricted Administration
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
• SSL Acceleration
• Classes of Users and Their Privileges
• Resources Protected
• Authorization and Access Enforcement
• Leveraging Oracle Identity Management Infrastructure
• Oracle Application Server Single Sign-On Servers
• Oracle Application Server Single Sign-On Partner Applications (mod_osso)
• Configuring OracleAS Web Cache Security

5 OracleAS Web Cache Topologies

• Common OracleAS Web Cache Configuration
• Specialized Topologies
• Deploying a Distributed Cache Hierarchy
• Deploying OracleAS Web Cache for High Availability Without a Hardware Load Balancer
• Deploying OracleAS Web Cache With a Layer 7 Switch
• Security Topologies
• Deploying OracleAS Web Cache with Firewalls
• Deploying OracleAS Web Cache with SSL Acceleration Hardware
• Routing HTTPS Requests to a Dedicated Cache
• Routing HTTPS Requests Around OracleAS Web Cache
• Routing Single Sign-On Server Requests

6 Introduction to Administration Tools

• Overview of Tools for Managing OracleAS Web Cache within Oracle Application Server
• Managing OracleAS Web Cache with Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console
• Accessing the OracleAS Web Cache Pages within Application Server Control Console
• Using the Web Cache Home Page
• Using the Web Cache Performance Page
• Using the Web Cache Administration Page
• Using the Application Server Control Console Online Help
• Gathering Historical Metrics Data for OracleAS Web Cache with Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control
• Accessing the OracleAS Web Cache pages within Grid Control Console
• Using the Grid Control Console: Web Cache Home Page
• Using the Grid Control Console: Web Cache Performance Page
• Using the Grid Control Console Online Help
• Managing Processes with Oracle Process Manager and Notification (OPMN)
• Overview of Tools for Standalone Configurations
• Managing OracleAS Web Cache with OracleAS Web Cache Manager
• Starting OracleAS Web Cache Manager
• Navigating OracleAS Web Cache
• Navigator Frame
• Right Frame
• The Cache Operations Page
• Applying Static and Dynamic Configuration Changes
• Managing Processes with webcachectl
• Understanding the OracleAS Web Cache Configuration Files
• Configuration and Administration Tasks at a Glance
• Script for Setting File Permissions on UNIX

7 Starting and Stopping OracleAS Web Cache

• Overview of Starting and Stopping for OracleAS Web Cache
• Starting and Stopping OracleAS Web Cache In an Oracle Application Server Configuration
• Starting and Stopping Using opmnctl
• Starting and Stopping Using the Application Server Control Console
• Enabling and Disabling OracleAS Web Cache Using Application Server Control
• Starting and Stopping OracleAS Web Cache In a Standalone Configuration
• Starting and Stopping with webcachectl
• Starting and Stopping Using OracleAS Web Cache Manager

Part II Configuration and Administration of OracleAS Web Cache

8 Setup and Configuration

• Using the Default Configuration
• Tasks for Setting Up OracleAS Web Cache
• Task 1: Start OracleAS Web Cache
• Task 2: Modify Security Settings
• Task 3: Configure Auto-Restart Settings
• Task 4: Configure Network Time Outs
• Task 5: Set Resource Limits
• Cache Memory
• Connection Limit
• Maximum Size of Single Cached Object
• Task 6: Configure OracleAS Web Cache with Listening Ports for Client Requests
• Adding a Listening Port
• Changing Site Configuration
• Configuring Other Oracle Application Server Components with the Listening Port
• Task 7: Provide Directives to Oracle HTTP Server
• Task 8: Configure OracleAS Web Cache with Operations Ports
• Modifying Operations Ports
• Configuring Other Oracle Application Server Components with Operations Ports
• Starting the admin Server Process After an Administration Port Change
• Starting the cache Server Process After an Invalidation or Statistics Port Change
• Task 9: Configure Origin Server, Load Balancing, and Failover Settings
• Task 10: Configure Web Site Settings
• Creating Site Definitions
• Configure Error Pages
• Bind a Session to an Origin Server
• Task 11: Specify Caching Rules
• Task 12: Restart OracleAS Web Cache
• Configuring for High Availability Without a Hardware Load Balancer
• OracleAS Web Cache Solely as a Software Load Balancer or Reverse Proxy
• Operating System Load Balancing Support
• Configuring Microsoft Network Load Balancing
• Advanced Configuration Topics
• Ensuring That ClientIP Headers Are Valid
• Configuring HTTP Request Header Limits
• Running webcached with Root Privilege
• Configuring Root Privilege for Privileged Ports and More than 1,024 File Descriptors
• Configuring Root Privilege for the Current User
• Reverting Permissions Back to Installation State

9 Configuring OracleAS Web Cache for HTTPS Requests

• Task 1: Create Wallets
• Task 2: Configure an HTTPS Listening Port
• Task 3: Configure HTTPS Operations Ports for the Cache
• Task 4: Configure HTTPS Port and Wallet Location for the Origin Server
• Task 5: Configure a Site to Accept HTTPS Requests
• Task 6: Modify ssl.conf for Keep-Alive Connections
• Task 7: (Optional) Require Client-Side Certificates
• Task 8: (Optional) Permit Only HTTPS Requests for a URL or Set of URLs
• Task 9: Restart OracleAS Web Cache

10 Configuring Cache Clusters

• Configuring a Cache Cluster
• Configuration Prerequisites
• Understanding Failover Threshold and Capacity Settings
• Task 1: Configure Cache Cluster Settings
• Task 2: Add Caches to the Cluster
• Task 3: Enable Tracking of Session Binding
• Task 4: Propagate the Configuration to Cluster Members
• Removing Caches from a Cluster
• Configuring Administration and Invalidation-Only Clusters
• Propagating Configuration Changes to Cache Cluster Members

11 Configuring a Hierarchy of Caches

• Configuring a Distributed Cache Hierarchy
• Configuring an ESI Cache Hierarchy
• Additional Hierarchy Configuration for a Cache Cluster

12 Creating Caching Rules

• About Caching Rules
• Rule Creation
• Selectors
• File Extension Expression Type
• Path Prefix Expression Type
• Regular Expression
• Caching Policy
• Cache-Key Policy
• Priority
• Default Caching Rules
• Configuring Caching Rules and Rule Association
• Task 1: Create Caching Rules
• Task 2: Prioritize Rules
• Task 3: (Optional) Associate Multiple Rules with Caching Policy Features
• Additional Configuration for Cache Policy Features
• Configuring Expiration Policies
• Configuring Cookie Definitions for Multiple-Version Objects Containing Cookies
• Recognizing Similar Browser Types for Multiple-Version Objects Containing HTTP Request Headers
• Configuring OracleAS Web Cache to Exclude the Value of Embedded URL or POST Body Parameters
• Configuring Session or Personalized Attribute Caching Policies
• Configuring Support for Session-Encoded URLs
• Configuring Support for Personalized Attributes
• Example: Personalized Page Configuration
• Configuring Rules for Popular Pages with Session Establishment
• Using the Surrogate-Control Response Header as an Alternative to Caching Rules
• Surrogate-Control Response-Header Field
• Configuring Rules for Content Assembly and Partial Page Caching
• Enabling Partial Page Caching
• Using ESI for Simple Personalization
• Examples of ESI Usage
• Example of a Portal Site Implementation
• Example of Simple Personalization with Variable Expressions

13 Sending Invalidation Requests

• Invalidation from External Sources
• Role of the invalidator and administrator Accounts
• Format of Invalidation Requests
• Propagation of Invalidation Messages
• Invalidation in Hierarchies
• Invalidation in Cache Clusters
• Methods for Sending Requests
• Telnet to Send Invalidation Requests
• Invalidation Request Syntax
• Invalidation Response Syntax
• Invalidation Preview Request Syntax
• Invalidation Preview Response Syntax
• Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console or OracleAS Web Cache Manager to Send Invalidation Requests
• Submitting Basic Invalidation Requests
• Submitting Advanced Invalidation Requests
• Application Program Interfaces (APIs) for Automated Invalidation Requests
• Database Triggers for Automated Invalidation Requests
• Scripts for Automated Invalidations
• Invalidation Examples
• Example: Invalidating One Object
• Example: Invalidating Multiple Objects
• Example: Invalidating a Subtree of Objects
• Example: Invalidating All Objects for a Web Site
• Example: Invalidating Objects Using Prefix Matching
• Example: Invalidating Objects Using Substring and Query String Matching
• Example: Invalidating Objects Using Search Key Matching
• Example: Propagating Invalidation Requests Throughout a Cache Cluster
• Example: Previewing Invalidation
• Inline Invalidation in HTTP Responses
• Example: Using Inline Invalidation
• Reducing Invalidation Overhead
• Send Basic Invalidation Requests for Invalidating One Object
• Use Substring Matching for Invalidating Multiple Objects in Advanced Invalidations
• Enhance Query String Invalidations
• Using Search Keys in Surrogate-Key Response Header and Invalidation Requests
• Surrogate-Key Response-Header Field
• Enabling Search-Key Invalidation

14 Monitoring Cache Trends with Statistics

• Monitoring OracleAS Web Cache Health
• Configuring End-User Performance Monitoring
• Enabling End-User Performance Monitoring
• Selecting URLs to Monitor
• Gathering End-User Performance Data
• Viewing Cache Performance Statistics
• Viewing Detailed Statistics for a Cache Cluster
• Viewing Origin Server Performance Statistics

15 Using Diagnostics Tools

• Listing Popular Requests and Cache Contents
• Listing Popular Requests
• Listing All Contents
• Evaluating Event Logs
• Oracle-ECID Request-Header Field
• Format of the Event Log File
• Configuring Event Logs
• Event Log Examples
• Displaying Diagnostic and Event Log Information in the HTML Body or Server Response-Header Field
• Server Response-Header Field
• Configuring Where to Display Diagnostic Information
• Evaluating Access Logs
• Format of the Access Log Files
• cs(header_name) and sc(header_name) Access Log Fields
• Configuring Access Logs
• Analyzing an Access Log File
• Access Log Examples
• Rolling Over Event and Access Logs

Part III Reference

16 Edge Side Includes (ESI) Language Tags

• Overview of ESI
• About the Surrogate-Control Response Header for Supporting ESI Language Elements
• About the Surrogate-Capability Request Header for Cached Objects
• Syntax Rules
• Nesting Elements
• Variable Expressions
• Variable Usage
• Variable Default Values
• HTTP Request Variables
• Exceptions and Errors
• ESI Tag Descriptions
• ESI choose | when | otherwise Tags
• ESI comment Tag
• ESI environment Tag
• ESI include Tag
• ESI inline Tag
• ESI invalidate Tag
• ESI remove Tag
• ESI try | attempt | except Tags
• ESI vars Tag
• ESI <!--esi-->Tag

17 Event Log Messages

• Message Format
• Messages that Reference Network Security Messages (NZE)
• Message Listing

A OracleAS Web Cache Directory Structure

B OracleAS Web Cache as a Standalone Product

• Installing Standalone OracleAS Web Cache
• Post-Installation Tasks
• Differences When OracleAS Web Cache Is Installed Standalone
• OracleAS Web Cache Processes
• webcachectl Utility Overview
• webcachectl Utility Commands
• reset
• restart
• restartadm
• restartcache
• start
• startadm
• startcache
• status
• stop
• stopabort
• stopadm
• stopcache
• webcachectl Parameter

C Invalidation and Statistics Document Type Definitions

• Invalidation DTD
• Invalidation Request and Response DTD
• Invalidation Preview Request and Response DTD
• Statistics DTD
• Statistics Request and Response DTD
• Groups of Statistics
• Cache Information Groups
• Runtime Statistics Groups
• Site Information Groups
• Origin Server Statistics Group
• URL Statistics Group
• Cache Reasons Group
• Query Methods
• Statistics Examples
• Complete Statistics Template

D Caching with Third-Party Application Web Servers

• Overview of Third-Party Application Servers
• Web Site Configuration
• Caching Rules and Expiration Rules
• BEA WebLogic Server 9.0
• WebLogic SimpleTag JSP
• IBM WebSphere Application Server, Version 6.0
• WebSphere Snoop Servlet
• WebSphere Calendar Creator JSP
• Apache Tomcat, Version 4.1
• Apache Tomcat Snoop JSP
• Apache Tomcat Session Servlet
• Microsoft IIS 5.0
• ServerVariables_Jscript ASP
• Cookie_Jscript ASP

E Troubleshooting OracleAS Web Cache

• Problems and Solutions
• Startup Failures
• Load Issues on OracleAS Web Cache Computer
• Performance Degradation and Memory
• Invalidation Timeouts
• Capacity Issues on Origin Server
• Browsers Not Receiving Complete Responses
• Browser Displaying a Page Not Displayed Error
• End-User Performance Monitoring Issues
• Session Binding Not Working in An OracleAS Forms Services Configuration
• XML Parsing Errors of webcache.xml Appears in Event Viewer
• Diagnosing Top User Issues
• Diagnosing Cache Content Results
• Diagnosing Common Edge Side Includes (ESI) Syntax Errors
• Template Syntax Error Example
• Fragment Syntax Error Example
• Fragment Syntax Error with Exception Handling Example
• Impact of HTTP Traffic Changes
• Resolving Common NZE Errors
• Need More Help?

Glossary

Index